Teen Brains and Sleep

Something I've wanted to change for a while now is school start time for my teens who wake at 6:00 and 6:30 for school and who verbalize that the early rise is a problem for them, especially my 9th grader who has social studies, math, and science classes first thing in the morning...

NBC Nightly News on the web April 13, 2011

Stay up until midnight and sleep until noon?...
The latest studies out of Brown University and Bradley Hospital show that the mid to late teenage years require more sleep for their brains, possibly to recover from the daily assault of information as their brains are maturing and preparing for adulthood... Dr. Mary Carskadan says they need a minimum of 81/4 to 81/2  hours a night.

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams

What compounds the problem today is the amount of late day distractions for teens... cell phones, electronic media, and other activities that extend their day later and later.  This lack of sleep may contribute to problems such as ADD, Obesity, and Depression in teens.

NBC Nightly News on the web

Parents please let your school know if this is a problem for your kids... sleep deprivation needs to be addressed in a serious way.  

One of the school districts in our area (Long Island) has changed the schedule and the high school starts at 9am with the elementary school starting in the early am slot... let's speak out at the next Board of Education meeting and let it be known.

Working Vacation

This was supposed to be a vacation week celebrating our presidents, but it turned out to be a working vacation for me.  We did manage to go skiing for a few days in upstate New York thanks to our friends who put us up in their condo (or put up with us not sure which it is).  The kids and my husband skied 'dust on crust' (I have a mildly torn meniscus), while I got a lot of work done on our upcoming Bar Mitzvah celebration (for my drummer son) which takes place in a few weeks.  I did go snowshoeing the last day which wasn't too smart either... feeling the pain as I descended the last third of the trail, wondering if I had done more damage to my knee.

 
The dirty laundry lay on the floor for most of the week while I tended to all the party plans, especially trying to get replies from kids who hadn't RSVP'd yet, way past the due date.  What if these kids just show up at the party?!  Part of the reason that this is an issue is that I decided, since this is to be mainly a kid party (just a few friends and family are invited), that I would go paperless with a website invitation... inviting ninety of his closest friends via a message on Facebook with a link taking them to the website.  Only one problem, who is RSVPing, the parents or the kids?  The responsible ones show their parents otherwise who knows...  It's new ground and I may regret it but the website is so COOL and it contains so much more information than a paper invitation... there's video of him, stills, a bio, directions, a link to Google maps, and troubling RSVP page which sends me an email at a different site so I can track the responses.
The site is beautiful and I thank my photographer for that, but I'm not sure how I will look back on this experience... too early to tell now that I'm in the throws of it... anyway back to work for me...

Happy Monday and sorry I was down for the week, but I'm back and running.

Lacy

I bought this tunic last week from one of my favorite designers and I know I'll want to wear it everyday come spring... dress it up, dress it down.  It's lacy without being fussy... lace and eyelet, gauze and fringe... that's what this versatile tunic is all about, classic with a twist.
Wear it as a dress or as a tunic top... belt it and wear it with jeans...

BCBGMAXAZRIA, $198

 Somehow it looks like the ice covering every tree branch in my backyard... lacy, but dangerous!

Pedi Sparkle!

Maybe it's this unrelenting winter we're having in the northeast with gray skies and at this point a lot of gritty grayish brown snow along the roads that makes me want to brighten my day with COLOR!  While replenishing my makeup supplies last week I was at the Lancome counter and spotted this nail polish with sparkle, hints of purple and pink sparkle... I couldn't resist.  It will be the perfect thing to get me in the mood for our weekend getaway to Miami, just hubby and I...

Lancome, LE 54, $19

The color is not opaque the way it looks in the bottle, but sheer and translucent with a more subtle sparkle.  I'm wearing it on my toes, but it would be pretty on the hands too.

Winter is ok, I'm trying not to take it for granted and appreciate it's monochromatic beauty.  It also has me appreciating spring even more when it finally arrives.  Although maybe this winter this snow on the ground today will still be here in April the way things are going... YUCK!!!

Belted!... 2 Ways

Looks what's coming down the runway for Spring 2011... Belts!... around the waist and the neck (chokers I mean)... Lanvin's RTW inspirational collection is just that... inspirational and wearable!...

I'm loving this and I think these looks will translate well, trickling down to very affordable clothing.

Now, to all my friends and readers please leave a comment or two (short and anonymous is fine) each time you read my post.  It let's me know you're out there and shows me your support.

Thanks and Happy Tuesday! 

Old Habits

I know I get stuck in old habits just as well as the next person... it's part of who we are, all those experiences that lead up to now, make us who we are, sometimes no matter how hard we want to change.  Get to the point already right?... nothing heavy, it's just that I sometimes get frustrated when I make a delicious and healthy dinner, something different with a beautiful sauce and hubby breaks out a jar of Saucy Susan (basically duck sauce) and says, "Oh this would be good with it!"... the kids know what's coming when the glare from me is enough to sizzle the entire dinner table into a minuscule pile of ashes... and he then says, "What's wrong with that?"...

For some it's putting ketchup on everything!  For my husband, who grew up eating a lot of chinese food (his mother was a terrible cook), especially as a bachelor, his favorite chinese dish is still Cantonese style Sweet and Sour Pork.  The funny thing (trying to laugh) is that he's a guy who prides himself in healthy eating!!!... he barely eats any red meat, lot's of fish, salads, nuts, and whole grains... old habits die hard, and I guess if that's the worst thing then...

Anyway, I try to keep a sense of humor about it, which is not easy when you are cursed with highly developed taste buds... no joke, I can really tell when a food is thinking about going bad, or stale, or has just a little refrigerator burn and he'll drink sour milk and not realize it!

At least Saucy Susan has some apricot in it.  

Oh, I DO love it when he reads me descriptive articles about the great restaurants of the world... and then we fantasize about flying to them.  Love you honey!

What are your old food habits?  I like rich fatty meats.... there I said it... I do avoid them most of the time, but they taste so good,  especially when I see them being prepared on the Food Network by some of the greatest chefs... or when Anthony Bourdain eats greasy street food it really gets me salivating.

Intensely Romantic

If I was to imagine my fantasy, a most romantic place to spend time with my sweetheart, I couldn't have imagined anything as beautiful as this...

The newly designed Gramercy Park Hotel (NYC) - "An entirely new genre of hotel... Bohemian reinvented for the 21st century with an original combination of styles, with great pieces of furniture and artwork and the extraordinary use of color."

Private key access to Gramercy Park...

Valentine's Day is coming up, but there are anniversaries and birthdays too, any excuse is good enough to just get away without kids and spend some time alone just the two of you... it's important for the relationship and the family to recharge...

 I'm talking to myself as well as you because I don't put enough thought into special time for my husband and I alone... right honey?

We are going away together for the weekend in February and I'm looking forward to it!

Alla Puttanesca

A quick and tasty pasta dish my whole family loves is always very satisfying, like this Linguine alla Puttanesca made from a dried mix straight from Italia via Brooklyn...

Marinella Brand

I purchased it from my local market, Seven Brothers, in East Northport, NY.

The owner recommended it the other day and I'm happy he did.  I'll be going back for more...

Cooks up fast with directions in broken English on the back of the package

Served it with baby cucumbers and Blue Cheese dressing... fast and easy!

Hope you can find it near you!

Shorts in Winter!

The dead of winter and he's wearing shorts!

It's winter and the stores are selling these lacrosse shorts for the kids... they're fashion and the kids want them.

So maybe I'm crazy to let him wear them right?... my car says it's only 19 degrees outside this morning and this is what he's wearing to school.  Granted they blast the heat in school and then they blast the heat on the bus, so maybe it's not that crazy, but it looks crazy!

Walls of Snow

Everything looks different with THREE foot plus snow banks everywhere I turn while I'm driving... WHITE OUT!  When you're a person who uses visual landmarks to find your way around, even a familiar place, it's a little disorienting.  Instead of a mailbox or shrubs marking a spot,  eyeing massive white walls in their stead has thrown me off causing me to miss turns... Have you experienced this or not?
What perturbed me this morning were not the walls of snow but my forgetful number# 2 son.  When we were turning into the school parking lot this this morning at 6:58 (a 12 minute ride) for jazz band practice my son says, "Oh no mom, I forgot my backpack, drumsticks and music.  I'm really sorry!".  As I felt the heat rising up my neck I look over only to see that he is equipped with his headphones and ipod, that he doesn't forget... EVER!
Sucker that I am, I turned around and made another round trip along the route that I already so detest every Tuesday and Thursday morning... so you see how my morning went.  Oh, and at least this morning I was dressed, not like some mornings when I throw on a coat over my pajamas.  Although I had no makeup on (scary) and had to bring the backpack into the office, no one was there so I labeled it, put it on the shelf for pick up and left... phew!

So how was your morning?

  

A.P. Redesign!

photo Erik Jacobs; illustration Stephen Webster

Now that my high school freshman is looking at taking AP courses, I've suddenly been thrown into the world of AP courses trying to quickly educate myself about the in's and out's or better the pro's and con's of such higher education.
My son got a letter recommending him for AP Art History and when I asked around about it I was disappointed to hear about the tremendous amount of memorization involved in the course.
So when I picked up the NY Times this weekend, my disappointment turned to optimism for the future of my kids' educations.
The NY Times article, "Rethinking A.P.", says that the A.P. College Board is changing the courses for the better, making the courses more about critical thinking and less about memorization.  They will start rolling out the first revamped courses starting in 2012-2013 "Major revisions to physics, chemistry, European History world history and art history will follow, with the hope of being ready for exams in 2014 or 2015.

Erik Jacobs for the NY Times

While the number of students taking the A.P. Biology test has doubled since 1997 the median scores have dropped to 2's and 1's which equates to C's and failing grades!

I'm encouraged about these overdue changes... Finally!!!

Pasta Tonnato (Tuna): a Favorite!

I haven't posted a food blog in awhile so here's one of my favorite dishes and healthy too... a great away to start the New Year...
Pasta Tonnato or Tuna Pasta... a delicious and economical dinner which I made even more healthy for myself by adding string beans and keeping the pasta to a minimum.  One of my kids loves this dish with the string beans or broccoli on the side, the other just doesn't even like the smell of tuna from afar!
I always keep a few jars of this lovely stuff on hand, any good Italian tuna will do, as well as a jar of the nonpareil (little) capers...

Ingredients:

2 cans of Italian tuna

1 onion chopped 

extra virgin olive oil

nonpareil capers

flat leaf parsley

salt and pepper

butter (for the string beans)

optional: grated parmesan reggiano cheese

optional: for a side or with the pasta steam fresh string beans (about a 1/2 pound)

Cook your pasta, rigatoni, spaghetti, whatever you have around, al dente (firm) drain and toss with enough olive oil so it doesn't stick together and put aside.  While pasta is cooking, in a saute pan, put a few tablespoons of olive oil and saute a small onion on medium heat until it's soft and translucent not brown.  Add the cans of tuna with their oil to the pan along with about 11/2 tablespoons of drained capers and mix breaking apart the tuna.  Chop the parsley fine and add a tablespoonful to the pan reserving some to add just before serving. Add  the pasta to the tuna mixture in the pan and additional olive oil if needed and toss until evenly coated.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Add parley and serve.

I steamed the string beans in the microwave until just soft for about 6 minutes and added a little butter to coat. Serve as a side to the pasta or as I did on top... it delicious!

Optional: add grated parmesan cheese to taste.   

I'll often make this dish in a pinch and many times without the parsley when I have not planned anything for dinner.

Bon appetite!

Kid Glam

I'm usually talking about boy clothes when it comes to the kids, because I have boys, but I just love looking at the girls all dressed up.  So when I saw this Crew Cuts catalogue from J. Crew I wished my kids were size 14 and under again!...

Now my boys are wearing 18's so they're sometimes in the boys (when i can find it) and sometimes in the men's department... sort of in between...

I love the tulle skirts and T's combo

Their ballet flats are terrific...

 $62.50


Happy New Year... 1/3/11... I need practice writing 2011!

216

This is my 216th and last blog post this year!... not enough I say... or is it quality not quantity?  My goal for 2011 is to take the blog to the next level.  What does that mean you say?  It means that way more people need to see the blog and I want to make money doing it too.  There that's a New Year's resolution in the making.
I did get a paying freelance writing job this year from an editor seeing the blog... that's pretty good right?... and I get to write a food column to boot.  I should be pretty happy about that right?
Yes I am... but hey things get in the way... life gets in the way... but I'm having FUN with life getting in the way!!!
My youngest child will be turning 13 this spring... boohoo... no more babies or kids... little men... or kinda big strong men since they hit the gym about 4 times a week now!

I'm not ready to let go of 2010 this morning... there's that beautiful scarf (I didn't photograph it either) I bought on our trip to San Francisco that I can't find and probably lost (not in the house) last week.
Looking back on some blog posts... I still love... Sriracha hot sauce, Lululemon workout clothing, watching the Oscars, Trader Joe's, cooking, taking my kids to NYC, Toasted Marshmallow Shakes, fish tacos, driveway tennis, shoe shopping and bag shopping... and shopping and writing about issues that are important to so many women and issues that are important to women with teen and tween kids!

Thank you to all those friends and readers of my blog.  I really appreciate your support this year...  even though I didn't go out with a bang and I took off some time these last few weeks I hope you'll continue to go through 2011 with me... I'm looking forward to a great new year.

Photos from December 31st last year...

My 12 year old and our dog

Fish tacos I made for a New Years party

Thanks again and Happy New Year!!!

Cool Cardigans

The other day my 14 year old asked me, "What's a cardigan mom?"... WOW!... it made me realize that I had been seeing them in the stores and online but dismissing them or blocking them out somehow as being in fashion again.  Aren't they for old men who smoke pipes?... NOT now anyway... they come in all shapes and styles as I discovered at Urban Outfitters website...

They range in price from about $38 to $78

Since then he has been asking me to buy him one, so if he is any barometer on what's hot and if you're looking for any last minute gifts for your boys (of course you are) then maybe this is it... winter is here and has certainly been here on the East Coast.

Happy first day of WINTER (6:48 EST)!

Car Shopping

SORRY about last weeks short week on the blog, but I won't go black on you, I promise, and everything is alright with me just soooo busy with a few big things.
One is that I'm in the thick of planning my son's Bar Mitzvah, my last but not least... and right about the same time (March) I have to decide on a new car with my lease coming due just about then too.
Frankly, I don't know which one is more work!  One is months of planning and will be over in a matter of 6 or so hours and the other is weeks of research and I have to live with my decision for 3 years.
You might think this is ridiculous even comparing these two unrelated things but they are converging and making me crazy at the same time.
I know a lot of women who have their husbands making this car decision for them but not in this household it's a joint decision, it's the car that I will be living in 95% of the time carting the kids to and fro.
I don't want to spend a lot on a car (it's not where we care to put too many eggs) but I'm thinking to go to a third row so I don't have to say 'no' to taking my 2 kids and all their friends places.
Anyway I tend to do a lot of research on things and usually I'm a very fast shopper (clothing, home decor, etc).  I know what I like, but a car is a big ticket item and there are a lot of players who present a lot of confusing information.
My latest is this... I have never bought an American car but suddenly some of them are looking quite good, especially Ford... with their technology and safety...

...so wish me luck and please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions you'd like to share... Thanks!

One Down and One to Go

TWO things are at the top of my list lately as far as purchases go... a special DRESS for a very special occasion and a CAR (my lease is up soon). I'm lucky I guess that I am able to think about that and not where my next meal is coming from or where I will sleep tonight!
Yesterday I went to lunch with two friends and we stopped into one of my favorite dress shops, Spotlight Italia, to look and to my delight I walked out with 'the dress', it was "bashert", which means destiny in Yiddish... It looks great on... the stretch fabric shapes to your body...

It has a 'blouson effect' with a tight fitting skirt and the top fabric is loose with a v-neck

The CAR, that's another story.... I've done so much research and test driven so many cars/SUV's that I'm in overdrive, it's overkill... go ahead, ask me a question about almost any vehicle and I've been there and have an opinion (of course) because that's what makes me a blogger... OPINIONS!
The only thing I think I know is that I want a seven passenger hauler for my kids, my dog, and their friends... and of course my husband.  The problem is that these things are real gas guzzlers and that bothers me.  If it wasn't for them I would drive some little thing, one of those funny looking abbreviated vehicles, that gets like 70 mph or so...

Thanks girlfriends for all your support, it was fun too!

Car suggestions anyone?!

Latkes!

I made latkes for my family last night.  If you've ever made them you know how much work they are and then I was carpooling the kids, so I got a break before frying them.  One of my kids said he wasn't hungry for dinner after all that too... wanted to kill him... sweetness and light that he is.... I controlled myself.
Anyway, I photographed them and was going to show them to you this morning, but then I visited one of my favorite bloggers, Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere, I saw that she also made them last night and did a beautiful job on her photos with a link to a recipe that I also used from memory...

photo by Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere

photo by Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere

I squeezed the shredded potato dry and didn't use the cheesecloth method.  I've also made a version with shredded carrots in them which is also delicious and sweetens them.
When I called my mother last night to tell her I was making latkes she told me that she used to sometimes make them with Gruyere cheese and they were so wonderful... I have no memory of latkes with cheese, but I bet they were good, they sound good and she's such a good cook.

Next time Mom!!!

All Legs

One way to change it up for winter is to pull all the classic black dresses and skirts you have out of the closet and freshen it up with new accessories... only think about tights being the new accessory...
I found these tights from House of Holland on mytights.com from a great and inspirational fashion website StyledOn.com, that the NY Times says, "... is quickly becoming the Facebook for the fashion set."...
If they're too out there for you then what about your daughters or nieces for the holidays!

These chic graphic shapes are fun and will run about $28...

Hope you find what makes you feel glamourous and please share it with us1

Overrated List

What's overrated for me might bring pleasure to another... so don't hate me ("because I'm...") for my list:

- Mail
- Shrimp
- Coach bags
- Skiing
- National Junior Honor Society (this one will make enemies)
- Salmon
- DSW
- Rachel Ray
-  iPads (and I LOVE Apple products)
- BBMing!
- "Dancing With The Stars" (Yuck)
- Pottery Barn furniture
- UGGs (for 30+)
- lonnnnng School Vacations
- Droid phone
- BMW and Mercedes SUV's
- Starbucks
- Harry Potter movies
- Antique Reproductions
- Rudeness
- Panini Presses
- Scented Candles
- expensive Broadway Musicals
- Adult evenings discussing 'the kids' and nothing else!

Love to hear from you about what's on your overrated list...
My underrated list is much bigger and probably less offensive too. Stay tuned this week for that one.

Inspiration from Art Basel Miami which took place this past weekend... wish I could have attended!